How noisy is the Sony 780?
Can anyone who has a Sony 780 give me their impressions on the (physical) noise the player makes?
I'm just about to return a Panasonic 310 and think this is my best next option, given similar price / features and that both got 5-star reviews.
I find the disc noise of the 310 quite annoying at times.
Cheers
Rob
To WHF team: This seems to be an issue with two manufacturers - have you encountered this in testing? I'm guessing sturdier machines (with better insulation) will fare better, but is this a factor in your review/star-awarding criteria?
thanks
Sounds like the fan.
Do you have 'Quickstart' turned off? I turned Quickstart off the day I got my S370 and have never had any fan noise since.
Chebby - I don't want to step on any toes by quoting from elsewhere, but suffices to say the guy in question said it wasn't the fan, and that his local Sony centre said it was the BD Laser Stepping Motor, which makes constant / minute adjustments to the laser position when reading disc (i.e. when playing). All players do it, to one degree or another.
I deeply envy anyone whose hearing is so good that they are distracted by the sound of the laser-assembly moving in a player they are presumably sitting at least two meters from. You are lucky. Your day will come when you won't find it a distraction, trust me lol 
hah! If my hearing was rubbish, I'd be on some other fanatic site!
To WHF team: This seems to be an issue with two manufacturers - have you encountered this in testing? I'm guessing sturdier machines (with better insulation) will fare better, but is this a factor in your review/star-awarding criteria?
thanks
If we notice a particuarly noisy machine, we will mention it - and we test with the players on a rack just behind our test sofa, as you can see here:
But neither of those were noisy enough to merit any negative markdown.
It's not the laser assembly that's the problem, it's the spinning disc, the speed of which can vary depending on what you're playing; CDs about 500rpm, DVDs 1500 rpm, Bluray up to twice that. No?
To WHF team: This seems to be an issue with two manufacturers - have you encountered this in testing? I'm guessing sturdier machines (with better insulation) will fare better, but is this a factor in your review/star-awarding criteria?
thanks
If we notice a particuarly noisy machine, we will mention it - and we test with the players on a rack just behind our test sofa, as you can see here:
But neither of those were noisy enough to merit any negative markdown.
I wonder if the volume's cranked louder in WHF test conditions than in the average home (I often leave a finger hovering over the remote out of consideration for neighbours).
If the average user listens at lower volumes this might explain why machine noise becomes more of a distraction.
It's not the laser assembly that's the problem, it's the spinning disc, the speed of which can vary depending on what you're playing; CDs about 500rpm, DVDs 1500 rpm, Bluray up to twice that. No?
Having just bought a s780 to replace my s570 i can say from my experience it is much quieter than the 570 which could be heard spinning on some discs all the time and even when streaming it seemed to be audiable. The 780 however doesn't make a peep as far as i can tell so far.
Thanks all for your replies.
To try and answer the questions asked of me:
I had Quickstart off. The player (Panasonic) was occasionally making noise even when turned off though.
I don't know how good my hearing is, but my wife noticed the noise too. I think I have reasonable hearing - I seem to hear things like sirens before others in the car, for example, but who knows. I wear glasses, so maybe it's classic sense compensation
I have returned the Panasonic and am currently without Blu-Ray. I have to go to to Richer Sounds anyway so I'm going to look at the Cambridge Audio 651 (hoping to see a review first - it may be in the paper mag which I'm yet to buy this month) as I want a multi-region DVD player too (maybe Blu-Ray, but that's not so urgent).
And no, I wouldn't get at all offended Major
(oh, if I end up getting two players - cheap multi-region DVD plus Blu-ray I'm kinda going off the 780 anyway just cause of Sony's restrictions on where I can buy it from. Grr..)
R
Though i'm late to the show ...i would like to get anybody's opinion in either keeping onto the Sony BDP-770 or go for the BDP-780?
Just had my BDP-770 repaired, due to a Multi-Region issue. But it's becoming erractic once again, so in the deliberating process with myself but would like further input.
Would you be content in keeping the BDP-770 or go for 780 series; i know that this player only has two additional extras Skype & Super Bit Mapping.
Some people have been mentioning on other problems with the fan on the S-780.
So be interesting to hear if anybody has both players or gone through both of them and give an honest account please!
anybody?
Mine is not noisy at all when playing. Only it is when loading a disc.
sorry, I cannot comment on this player, but I have a Sony 760. While it's a great player, it's very noisy (sounds a bit like a pigeon cooing!). It's not noticable at regular volume, but is annoying during quiet passages of play. Why not demo one at your local Currys or similar and decide whether it's for you?
EDIT: a quick google took me to a rival forum where the members have isolated this to the BD laser stepping motor. Which makes a purring noise. The sound damping/casing can insulate it a bit, so if it's going to be in an enclosed cabinet (which mine is, as of last week!), it might sort it out. I've not used it since I took delivery of the new cabinet, so cannot comment if it's dealt with the issue.
I have some home cinema and Sonos stuff.